The Morning After
by Elsewhere-Kels
Summary: The Dark Lord and his followers have fallen, but still the casualties of war wound deeply. When the fighting has ended and the dust settles, what do we have left? A conversation between two characters the morning after the end. See if you can guess who th


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

The Morning After

"...Are you sure you don't want to go to the party?" Tentative, gentle.

A sigh, "Yeah. You shouldn't bother with me, though... You ought to go anyway, have some fun. You deserve it."

"So do you... And it wouldn't be fun without you. We always used to have such good times." A tender, nostalgic smile.

A wry chuckle, containing no true happiness, "We did, but I didn't even know how I felt about you, then."

"It doesn't matter. We got there in the end. And... we can still have fun, you know. Just... not quite like before."

"I know. Soon, I promise. But right now... every wound is so fresh. I want to have fun with you... so much. I want to kiss you and hold you and spoil you just as if we were normal people." A longing quivering breath and a teasing Cheshire-cat grin upon roguish yet soft lips.

A snort and an appreciative 'hmm', "Spoil me? Hardly..." Teasing helped dull the pain, if only for a fleeting moment, "And we are by no means normal, silly, even disregarding certain... things. But I understand. I'll wait. The pain is still fresh in my memory as well, anyway..." Sad, mournful eyes accompanied by a shuddering breath.

A swift inhale of breath and a swallow, "Oh Merlin... You... Oh, I'm so sorry. I knew, but I guess I just didn't _realize_. God, you're way too good at hiding your feelings. I'm _so_ sorry, love..." A sound of rustling robes and the gentle swish of sliding fabric in embrace, "Why did you hide it from me? You hardly ever hide things from me these days...." The voice cracked.

A swallow, "I didn't want to worry you... you have so much on your mind, you-"The voice was cut off as flesh met flesh in an incomprehensible moment. A delightful, wonderful combination of rough and soft skin; tears and saliva; desperation, passion, love, pain, guilt, devotion... And many other feelings that went so far beyond any word in any language, resonating within their souls and spiralling onward into eternity.

A gentle ascend, "You..." A shake of the head, "Merlin, for someone so clever, you can be so... so _stupid_ sometimes. Listen, you lost just as much as I did in all of this. You fought the same battles and you felt the same pain. There is no way—_no_ way I'm going to let you go through that alone." A mouth opened to protest, "You'd do the same for me, so don't argue." It closed.

A shuddering breath, "I know that sometimes it seems like you aren't as... as important as some people. You don't have as much sway. But you're important to _me_, damnit. When I was... was imprisoned in _there_, you were all I thought about. Well, you and... and them, of course." Averting eyes and a biting of the lip.

A soft, shuddering breath that built into a sob, "I know you'd have thought about them. They were... Merlin, why..." Their embrace tightened.

"I... I know... My... my point is, through all that... You kept me going. For a lot of times, thoughts of you were the only thing that kept me from just laying down and dieing. I _love_ you, don't you get it? You're my everything. If you want to cry... or yell... or throw things... or talk until neither of us can keep our eyes open... Damnit, just do it."

A shaky sigh, "Well... okay... but only if you do the same." A ghost of long ago happiness, a tone of defiance.

A nod, "Deal. We'll make it through this together." A soft, loving smile. Another swishing noise of dragging the other with him to the beg, both curling into each other just beautifully.

A gentle grin, "Right. Together forever." A soft kiss, a sigh, "I love you so much, Harry."

He stroked thewoman's hair and kissed her head, "I love you too, Ginny... I love you too."

* * *

HAH! How many of you thought it was Sirius and Remus? dances and grins Oh, I'm so pleased with this! Not that I don't adore Sirius/Remus, but I was inspired to write _this_ fic, with _these_ characters. So we'll just have to wait and see if I get inspired for a Siri/Remmie fic. A hug and much thanks to my lovely beta reader, Lozzy-chan. Please read and review!

Au revoir,

Kels


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